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Former car dealer fined

Ridgehaven Holdings, which was operating as Wanneroo Cars and Commercials, and its director Brian John Whitehead pleaded guilty to 29 charges of breaching Australian Consumer Law and 10 charges under the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act in Joondalup Magistrates Court this month.

The charges related to 29 vehicles sold between October 2011 and September 2013.

The business has since closed.

It had buyers illegally sign a statement saying no warranty would be provided on the cars.

This was in breach of consumer law because a warranty was available under the Vehicle Dealers Act for used cars worth more than $4000 that had travelled less than 180,000km and were less than 10 years old.

The business also breached the Act by displaying notices stating no warranty applied to the cars.

The company was fined $50,000 for breaching consumer law, $10,000 under the Vehicle Dealers Act and ordered to pay $2416 court costs. Whitehead was fined $14,000 for breaching consumer law and $4000 for breaching the Vehicle Dealers Act.